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The state still tops the list of top Topeka employers, but the gap has narrowed with state cutbacks and strong demand for health services.

More than 6,400 Topeka-area residents work for the state government. That means state government employs about 2,000 more people than the second-largest employer, Stormont-Vail Health Care — the narrowest margin in the past six years.

Topeka Unified School District 501 overtook the U.S. government for third place, due to both growth in the district and cuts at the federal level.

Most of Topeka’s other large employers remained relatively stable, though three dropped out of the rankings. Yearbook printer Jostens, which employed 703 people in 2009, and greeting card company Hallmark, which employed 680, have dropped out of the top 25 as they prepare to pull out of Topeka. Alorica, which runs a service center for a cell phone company, hasn’t announced any plans to pull out, but its employee base shrunk enough to knock it out of the top 25.

Previous rankings compiled by The Capital-Journal didn’t include employees of the Joint Force Headquarters and Kansas Army National Guard, who are included this year. With the shrinking of some larger employers, Midwest Health Management and Shawnee Heights USD 450 cracked the top 25 for the first time in the past six years.

Marsha Sheahan, vice president for public relations with the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce, said some companies, like Jostens and Hallmark, struggled with changes in their industries. The economic upheaval of the past few years have shown the importance of maintaining a diverse employer base, she said.

“I think what we’re seeing is a trend for companies to right-size,” she said. “Companies are having to change what they do and how they do it.”

The largest employers have more than 900 fewer workers than in the past year, but many of those workers have gone to work at smaller companies or organizations, Sheahan said.

“As those people have been furloughed or let go, they come into the market,” she said. “Most of them have families and stay here and are absorbed into other jobs.”

The rankings are listed below, with current and past employment levels, a brief description of the kind of work done at each employer and an outlook for the future from a spokesman or other official from each company or agency.

See a slideshow here on CJOnline for a more detailed breakdown on each of Topeka’s top 25 employers, and their prospects for the future.

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Just above this articlen CJonline the paper prints a separate article about unemployment. However the author of that article did not address unemployment, like this article does not address it even though the writer claims unemployment is down. The writer of this article indicates most of the top 25 companies have fewer employees than they did just 2 years ago. How does laying off employees equal lower a true picture of the unemployment rates? These two articles look like they were written by a politician, full of a little truth and the rest covered up by a lot of smoke to cloudy up the issues. How about it CJ. Did you reprint a couple of letters some Brownback lackey presented you?

is the major employer, we are in trouble. This is probably why taxes are so high in Topeka and Shawnee County. With government, at all levels, employing so many, less new money is available. Government wages are paid with tax money and taxes paid by government employees end up being money going in circles. We need a much bigger private business base in order to grow.

This has been due to the hostile work environment, created by many arbitrary decisions that make no sense to anyone and the long-term, lingering uncertainty that it causes. Employees trying to make sense out of these things just get frustrated and leave when they can. The obvious answer is that there is no plan. The situation was expressly created to promote fear, uncertainty and doubt among State workers, providing them with ample incentives to work elsewhere. That part seems to be working.

I think you may have misread the headline. It said employment was down at the top 25 employers, not unemployment. (Incidentally, unemployment also is down from where it was in 2009, but that's a whole different set of data.) These articles were a look at our 25 largest employers. Obviously, they don't tell the whole story of the labor market in Topeka, since many people work for smaller employers that wouldn't be included here, but I believe it's still relevant data for discussing how the labor market has changed over the past three years. Thanks for reading!